TCM Schedule for Thursday, May 8: Speed Racers

[Staph]

Go, Speed Racer, go! Tonight's subject is racing, and we've go from the sublime to the ridiculous, from James Garner in Grand Prix to Mark Hamill in Corvette Summer. Enjoy!



4:30am -- Wings For The Eagle (1942)
Dedicated aircraft workers compete for the same girl.
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon.
BW-84 mins, TV-PG

The studio received permission to film inside the Lockheed Aircraft Co. in Burbank, California, but each member of the crew was required to carry a birth certificate to enter the plant.


6:00am -- Modern Times (1936)
The Little Tramp tries to build a home with a young slum girl.
Cast: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman.
Dir: Charles Chaplin.
BW-83 mins, TV-G

Supposedly was to be Charles Chaplin's first full sound film, but instead, sound is used in a unique way: we hear spoken voices only when they come from mechanical devices, a symbol of the film's theme of technology and dehumanization. Specifically, voices are heard from:

* The videophones used by the factory president
* The phonographic Mechanical Salesman
* The radio in the prison warden's office


7:30am -- Bachelor Mother (1939)
A fun-loving shop girl is mistaken for the mother of a foundling.
Cast: Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Charles Coburn.
Dir: Garson Kanin.
BW-82 mins, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Felix Jackson

Remade into the musical Bundle of Joy (1956) starring Debbie Reynolds, Eddie Fisher and Adolphe Menjou.


9:00am -- Task Force (1949)
A naval officer devotes his life to the development of the aircraft carrier.
Cast: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Jane Wyatt.
Dir: Delmer Daves.
C-117 mins, TV-PG

Wayne Morris who portrayed Lt. McKinney was the only actor in the cast who had actual combat experience as a carrier pilot in WWII . As a fighter pilot, Morris shot down seven enemy planes and contributed to the sinking of five enemy ships. He was awarded four Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals. He was the only combat "ace" of all the Hollywood actors who went to war.


11:00am -- Love Crazy (1941)
A businessman concocts a series of harebrained schemes to keep his wife from divorcing him.
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Jack Carson.
Dir: Jack Conway.
BW-99 mins, TV-PG

William Powell had a mustache for the entire length of his career, but shaved it off when dressed as a woman.


12:45pm -- Written On The Wind (1956)
A young woman marries into a corrupt oil family then falls for her husband's best friend.
Cast: Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack.
Dir: Douglas Sirk.
C-99 mins, TV-PG

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Dorothy Malone

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Robert Stack, and Best Music, Original Song -- Victor Young (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song "Written on the Wind" (Victor Young's nomination was posthumous)

The movie was rumored to be based on the death of tobacco heir Zachary "Smith" Reynolds. The youngest son of tobacco magnate R.J. Reynolds, the 20-year old playboy had a complete disinterest in the family business, an inexhaustible allowance and a volatile temper. Smith owned a plane and literally stalked Broadway musical comedy star Libby Holman until the 27-year old singer married him in 1931. Their marriage was a clash of wills and during an alcohol-fueled July 4th holiday party in 1932 at the family's estate, Libby announced she was pregnant. Stories differ, but there was reportedly a tense confrontation, a gunshot and the young Smith was dead. Libby and Ab Walker, a close friend of Smith's who was whispered to be her lover, were indicted for murder. Fearing scandal over their son's activities, the intensely private Reynolds family pressed authorities to drop the charges. The death was officially ruled a suicide.


2:30pm -- The Buccaneer (1958)
French pirate Jean Lafitte tries to redeem his name helping the U.S. in the War of 1812.
Cast: Yul Brynner, Charlton Heston, Claire Bloom.
Dir: Anthony Quinn.
C-120 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White or Color -- Ralph Jester, Edith Head, and John Jensen

Facts were changed to protect 1950s sensitivities. Lafitte did have an affair with a Claybourne lady, but it was the Governor's wife, not his daughter.


4:30pm -- Thunder Road (1958)
A fast-driving moonshiner locks horns with a Chicago gangster.
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Gene Barry, Keely Smith.
Dir: Arthur Ripley.
BW-93 mins, TV-PG

The '57 Ford used in the crash scene was specially built to withstand the force of impact when it was driven in-between the two revenuer cars. The front fenders were made of cast steel and the body and frame were heavily reinforced. The weight of the car was such that special solid sponge rubber tires had to be fabricated and used. No tire of the day could support the weight and speed the car had to attain and still look like normal car tires. The engine also had to be highly modified to produce the horsepower necessary for the speed requirement.


6:15pm -- The Entertainer (1960)
A third-rate vaudevillian uses liquor and young women to escape the pressures of changing times.
Cast: Laurence Olivier, Brenda de Banzie, Joan Plowright.
Dir: Tony Richardson.
BW-104 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Laurence Olivier

Albert Finney's movie debut.


What's On Tonight: TCM PRIME TIME FEATURE: SPEED RACERS


8:00pm -- Grand Prix (1966)
Auto racers find danger and romance at the legendary European road race.
Cast: James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand.
Dir: John Frankenheimer.
C-176 mins, TV-14

Won Oscars for Best Effects, Sound Effects -- Gordon Daniel, Best Film Editing -- Fredric Steinkamp, Henry Berman, Stu Linder and Frank Santillo, and Best Sound -- Franklin Milton

James Garner did all his own driving. During breaks in filming there were several mini races in which Garner either tied or bettered the professional drivers hired for filming.


11:00pm -- The Green Helmet (1961)
A race-car driver whose nerves are shot takes on one last job.
Cast: Bill Travers, Ed Begley, Sidney James.
Dir: Michael Forlong.
BW-89 mins, TV-PG

The Green Helmet -- in black and white....


12:45am -- To Please A Lady (1950)
A ruthless race-car driver falls for a crusading journalist out to clean up the sport.
Cast: Clark Gable, Barbara Stanwyck, Adolphe Menjou.
Dir: Clarence Brown.
BW-92 mins, TV-G

Clark Gable wanted the name of the movie changed because shortly before filming he married Lady Silvia Ashley and did not want people to make comparisons.


2:30am -- The Crowd Roars (1932)
A race-car driver tries to keep his brother from following in his footsteps.
Cast: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak.
Dir: Howard Hawks.
BW-70 mins, TV-G

Stock footage was temporarily removed from this one to be used in the remake, Indianapolis Speedway (1939); when it was replaced back into The Crowd Roars (1932) negative, some of the Indianapolis Speedway (1939) footage got mixed in with it, so that you now see 1939 footage in a 1932 film, including shots of a late 1930's ambulance and automobiles as well as racing announcers Wendell Niles, John Conte, and Reid Kilpatrick who did not appear in the film as it was originally released.


4:00am -- Corvette Summer (1978)
A high school student takes off in search of his stolen, rebuilt Corvette.
Cast: Mark Hamill, Annie Potts, Eugene Roche.
Dir: Matthew Robbins.
BW-105 mins, TV-14

Mark Hamill was badly injured in an automobile wreck in Malibu, California immediately prior to production. He bares the scars through Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983).